Battle Los Angeles.

[Despondos]

Is anyone else as excited as I am to see this movie in only 3 short weeks from today?!?

Trailer #1

Trailer #2

Super Bowl Spot

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Edit:

Did anyone see this yet?

[Greyskull09]

I hear about how bad this movie was and for some reason when critics slam a movie i gotta check it out. Its not no ID4 or Predator. But was not that bad a movie.
Its a really good story about these group of marines. Its a good military film if ask me.
The actors do a great job and its them that made me like this movie. I liked that these aliens were not seen. I think not seeing them made them seem more dangerous and mysterious.
The reveal of how much the city was being wasted was a great story part really.
This felt real too me. Like this is what a real alien invasion be like. In the end i believe it be up to maybe ground forces winning back our planet some how.

[Despondos]

I started a thread about this movie 3 weeks ago ("Battle: Los Angeles" Thread), but didn't get any responses.

Now that the movie is out has anyone else seen it?

I went to see it on the midnight preview showing and I really liked it. I agree with you Greyskull09 that it seemed like what would happen with a real alien invasion. I've read multiple reviews of the movie bashing it's story, characters and dialogue. Without giving any spoilers, the story is pretty simple and straightforward. Sure the characters and dialogue may be "cliche", but the characters represented exactly what many Marines are like. The dialogue was also realistic for the situation the characters were in.

I think it's hilarious that all these so-called professional reviewers bash the dialogue in the movie, but do they seriously expect your average Marine is going to be spouting Shakespearean sonnets in the heat of battle against a friggin' alien invader?

I thought the special effects were great. I'll definitely be getting this on Blu Ray when it comes out & probably see it at least one more time while it's in the theaters.

[IronAvatar]

It was the most awful piece of trash that I've seen for a long time.

I felt that the script did a great job of showing just how powerless we would be in that situation. Not because of having inferior weaponary, but because the enemy would be so different to us, we wouldn't know how to use our weapons effectively.

But to me, the movie tried too hard to be sentimental, to show us just how gosh darn squared jawed your average grunt is. There were far too many corny speeches and forced monents of sentimentality. And to make matters worse, the movie and the actors took it all far too seriously. In many ways, it really was a moden day version of Battleship Potemkin.

I have to say, despite this being a god awful movie with too much in the way of nationalistic propaganda, I loved every second of it.


On reflection, maybe this is the sort of movie that the U.S. needs to watch right now. Having spent the better part of a decade involved in two very unpopular and costly military conflicts, the financial bail out of the banks and an uncertain future; maybe a bit of "hoo-ra'ing" will hit the right spot with the average Joe on the street and put a little bit more of a spring in their step once they leave the theatre.

So with that in mind, I won't criticise the movie too strongly. As I said, I really did enjoy every second of it once I turned my brain off and started stuffing my face with popcorn.

[GeologyMule]

I started a thread about this movie 3 weeks ago ("Battle: Los Angeles" Thread), but didn't get any responses.

.

I've merged the threads.

I saw it and it was about what I expected. It reminded me a lot of Black Hawk Down. Seemed very much like a war movie instead of an alien movie. I liked it.

[Greyskull09]

What was good about this one is Eckhart and he was a Kick Ass Marines. He would be my choice as Duke Paramount GI-Joe. That was a marine while Channing is a punk.

[Adam_Prince of Eternia]

This is marketed as an alien invasion film, but it is actually a two-hour commercial for the Marines.

It is also incredibly stupid. We are supposed to believe that a civilization sufficiently technologically advanced to colonize another planet does not have a less crude and more effective means of combat than ground warfare—really?

[Jon]

It is also incredibly stupid. We are supposed to believe that a civilization sufficiently technologically advanced to colonize another planet does not have a less crude and more effective means of combat than ground warfare—really?

Any civilization that's developed interstellar travel obviously wouldn't ever have to resort to ground warfare. They could wipe us out out from millions of miles away before we even knew what happened. But don't assume that alien invaders would just automatically do that just because they can. The invaders could have been engaging us in ground warfare because they wanted to, for any number of possible reasons, ranging from complex alien religious beliefs to the simple possibility that maybe they're just a warrior society that enjoys blowing stuff up up close and personally. Since the writers chose not to give any concrete explanations for the aliens' actions (other than the speculation that they're stealing our water for fuel) or methods, you can imagine anything you'd like, which I really like because to me it makes the aliens that much more mysterious and menacing (a lot of filmmakers could benefit by learning that less is sometimes more, IMHO).

Anyway, I enjoyed the film. It's pretty conventional, and definitely nothing I haven't ever seen before (it actually very much plays out like a video game, with the soldiers fighting their way from one objective to the next), but it never tries to be anything other than advertised - simply a straight-up alien invasion/war movie. And as a straight-up alien invasion/war movie, it succeeds, IMHO. =)

[SCB]

Meteors start hitting all over the world. Pretty soon the military figures out that they are not meteors, but something more like a weapon based on how well they land. Shadowy figures show up from the meteor sites and start firing. It's an alien invasion in the form of a giant advanced military from the skies.

The movie focuses on a small group of soldiers assigned with the mission of rescuing civilians from Santa Monica California, incidentally this is also where I live in real life. Anyway, that's what the movie should have been called, Battle: Santa Monica.

The movie is Saving Private Ryan meets War of The Worlds. That being said, it's not very good. You wouldn't be able to describe any of the aliens because they don't look like anything. All you see are robotic limbs and parts. The dialog is cheesy Hollywood military dialog. And lastly, as good as the movie starts, it's as good as it gets. The movie drags when it's the same situation different times during the movie. A small group of soldiers taking on a gigantic army of alien soldiers.

I don't regret seeing this movie, but if I had skipped it, I wouldn't have missed anything.

[Mr_Yuck]

I liked the movie overall. It did seem like a big love letter to the Marines though. I was thinking maybe they will show this as part of their recruitment videos

The fact that I couldn't really make out what the aliens looked like underneath the armor bothered me a bit. I would've liked to have had something that I could tell what the creatures looked like. That was minor though. I will say they did a great job on the action and the pacing of the story.

[Sky Breaker]

Nothing to add that hasn't already been said. Marines. Aliens. Special effects. Marines always stick together, never say die, and fight the good fight.

There is virtually no character development, as per most action movies. The aliens are kind of cool. If you want to turn off your brain and see stuff explode, that's what you're going to see this movie for.

I don't suspect it will be a successful franchaise. Just a slightly enjoyable, and forgettable one shot flick. It does seem to be though, that even those of us who don't outright hate the movie, see that it has very little redeeming qualities.

As for what the aliens looked like, I think it was pretty obvious. They were sentient jellyfish mushroom hybrids who wore combat armor. Heh.

[SCB]

Some of the most corniest lines delivered poorly in this film, if you're a fan of that.

[Despondos]

I've merged the threads.
I saw it and it was about what I expected. It reminded me a lot of Black Hawk Down. Seemed very much like a war movie instead of an alien movie. I liked it.

Yep, it was definitely a war movie with aliens as the enemies far more than it could be categorized as an alien invasion movie. Definitely more action than sci-fi.

What was good about this one is Eckhart and he was a Kick Ass Marines. He would be my choice as Duke Paramount GI-Joe. That was a marine while Channing is a punk.

That's a great point! I did think Eckhart did a great job and he'd be a FAR better Duke than Mr. "Step Up".

Any civilization that's developed interstellar travel obviously wouldn't ever have to resort to ground warfare. They could wipe us out out from millions of miles away before we even knew what happened. But don't assume that alien invaders would just automatically do that just because they can. The invaders could have been engaging us in ground warfare because they wanted to, for any number of possible reasons, ranging from complex alien religious beliefs to the simple possibility that maybe they're just a warrior society that enjoys blowing stuff up up close and personally. Since the writers chose not to give any concrete explanations for the aliens' actions (other than the speculation that they're stealing our water for fuel) or methods, you can imagine anything you'd like, which I really like because to me it makes the aliens that much more mysterious and menacing (a lot of filmmakers could benefit by learning that less is sometimes more, IMHO).

Absolutely. The reality is that any advanced civilization with the technology to cross interstellar distances with the intent of colonizing other planets and eradicating the indigenous population would simply bombard us from high orbit and we'd be helpless to resist. Yes, I'll say it. Resistance would be futile. Eventually they'd need to send ground troops and aerial support to wipe out/control the remaining population, but by then all major cities and military installations would have been destroyed. Of course that wouldn't make for very good drama in a movie when the stars just watch as city after city is wiped from the face of the planet.

As for what the aliens looked like, I think it was pretty obvious. They were sentient jellyfish mushroom hybrids who wore combat armor. Heh.

Nice description.

[Greyskull09]

Predator aliens can wipe out a whole block but they choose honorable combat. Maybe these aliens want to test human resolve and see if they are intelligent. While at the same time needing there water. Maybe just maybe they prefer combat and not the easy way.